Does that mean every business needs an app? Not really. Does it mean that if you have an app, you should be striving to get it in front of the people it’s going to benefit most? Definitely.

Here are 10 tips to help you in launching your first mobile app marketing campaign.

1. Build an app that's genuinely useful and free of snags

Before you think about marketing your app (or even making it), it’s critical you get the basics right.

Ask yourself this:

Why are you building this app? Because it fills a genuine need? Or because you've been told "Apps are the future (or the present)"?

That last bit might be true (we already know that 90% of mobile content is consumed via apps), but there's still little point in building an app if it doesn’t have a real purpose.

If it's an alternative to your website, but doesn't offer anything your website does not, you might be wasting your time.

It's also key that your app is free of snags that impact usability (or as close to free of snags as you can get – there are always bound to be a few problems that don't surface until the app's on the market).

Key issues to watch out for include:

The app closing without request (or warning).

The app taking too long to respond.

The app slowing the performance of the rest of the device.

2. Create a detailed strategy

All marketing efforts should be preceded by a detailed strategy that includes specific, measurable goals, and a dated plan that details how you hope to achieve those goals, and by when.

Points you'll want to consider will probably include (but won't be limited to):

Pricing – what will your app cost, and how much, if necessary, can you afford to cut the price?

What accompanying content are you going to create for your app? Are you going to build a microsite, or are you going to add a landing page to your current site? Who’s going to be responsible for designing and developing this content?

Exactly which strategies are you going to employ for marketing your app and who’s going to be responsible for managing each of them?

Who will have the responsibility of overseeing the entire project?

3. Optimize your app store listing

App store optimization (or ASO) is the process of optimizing your mobile app to help it rank more prominently in the app store (or stores). Just as with internet search engines, the higher up your app appears for a given keyword, the more visible it is and, hopefully, the more people will download it.

Effective ASO necessitates that you understand the keywords your target customers are using to find apps like yours. Tools like Mobile Action and Sensor Tower can assist with this (and with most aspects of ASO).

Once you know which keywords your target customers are using, the trick lies in including them in the right places – primarily, in your app’s title and description.

Those are the basics of ASO. You have full control over those things, so it’s important to get them right.

Number of downloads and reviews also affect ASO. This bit is trickier because you don’t have complete control; far from it. But, if you do a good job of marketing your app and include a gameplan for enticing reviews (see below), you <span style=

I am the co-founder of Web Profits, a growth marketing agency helping companies leverage the latest and greatest marketing strategy to fuel their businesses.

Sujan is the co-founder of Web Profits, a growth marketing agency, and a partner in a handful of software companies including Mailshake, Pick.co, Quuu, and Linktexting.com Between his consulting practice and his software companies, Sujan’s goal is to help entrepreneurs and...